


Fashion and Fencing

by halcyyonn



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, adult au, fashion boutique sports centre au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 11:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21898864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halcyyonn/pseuds/halcyyonn
Summary: Kagami Tsurugi is the best fencer in the world. She also worked in the sports centre in Paris, employed by Armand D’argencourt to teach fencing lessons. Somehow, she balanced everything and still seemed to have everything put together exactly how she wanted it.Marinette is also more successful than she had hoped, owning her own fashion empire to rival Gabriel Agreste’s. Hundreds of stores selling her designs had popped up around the globe and her name had quickly wormed inside every household and everyone knew who she was.They were both famous, and both committed to their passion. So much so, that it left almost no time for anything else. Fortunately, worlds often collide, and fashion and fencing meet.This is for the Tumblr Secret Santa 2019, as a gift for transsboyy. Enjoy!
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi
Comments: 12
Kudos: 190





	1. Fencing Lessons

**Author's Note:**

> A few things I didn't want to put in the summary box, but everyone is an adult and going their own directions in life. Kagami still competes in fencing championships, but her mother is much more relaxed and she has her own freedom. Marinette opened her own fashion boutique that became crazy popular around the world, but is still based in Paris.
> 
> Kagami and Marinette didn't really know each other until they were both famous adults, but they did both have crushes on Adrien. Both of them grew out of their crushes without telling Adrien, so it isn't awkward for anyone.

Swift lines slashed across the page as Marinette tried to pull more designs out of her head. A deadline was approaching for a new set of designs, yet nothing was working. Everything she drew seemed either boring, unoriginal, or both, and she was running out of time.

This had happened before, artists’ block taking over her mind and locking her ideas away, but it had never been this bad. It was like she had lost her inspiration, and nothing could bring it back. Usually, she could go for a walk or listen to her favourite Jagged Stone songs, but it wasn’t working this time. Marinette felt like she had walked around Paris twice over, and could recite every song in her sleep. It was getting old, quickly. She needed to find new inspiration and fast.

An alarm buzzed on Marinette’s phone and she sighed, knowing she hadn’t managed to accomplish anything this morning. She had been working for an hour, and yet she only had a few designs that were even average. She couldn’t use anything from the pages she had filled.

Putting her sketchbook into her bag, Marinette headed towards the door. The morning was still young, but she always arrived at work early to work without interruptions. Unfortunately, the quiet sketching time had turned into a time for responding to emails in the absence of ideas. Mornings were starting to become monotonous and hard to bear.

When she got out of her car, Marinette could see Kagami walking up the street towards the sports centre. They arrived at the same time, quite a bit earlier than anyone else, and Marinette didn’t see Kagami until the next morning. That was the only reason Marinette kept noticing Kagami. Her weird schedule that Marinette couldn’t work kept bouncing around in the back of her head, nearly as much as the designs she was supposed to create.

Waving to Kagami, Marinette unlocked the boutique and walked inside, flicking the lights on as she walked. The first place she went was upstairs to her office, throwing the curtains open and watching as windows started to open in the sports centre. The first window to open was always the pool level at the top of the building, then the windows below it as Kagami worked her way back to the fencing floor.

The only time Marinette had been inside the sports centre was when she was helping them remodel. In the time she had been helping place the logos she had designed, she had committed most of the building design to memory. She knew where everyone was going to be at certain times so she could work without interfering, and she knew Kagami and Adrien both taught fencing lessons for quite a few hours each day.

Every window in the sports centre was open and Marinette watched as Kagami disappeared from sight. That was when a single idea wormed its way into her head. It quickly grew, spinning, and spreading through her mind until it was the only thought she had. She could get lessons from Kagami and learn how to fence, properly. That way, they could have a common interest and see each other regularly. It would be great!

Glancing out the window again, Marinette saw Adrien, Kim and Ondine walk up the path to the sports centre. Kagami appeared out of the door, smiling brightly at them. They all worked together, though Kim and Ondine worked on the pool level rather than in fencing.

Kagami Tsurugi was cute. Marinette had been thinking that for a while, but she refused to act on it. There was no way that Kagami would feel the same way as Marinette did, and why would Marinette risk her heart being broken? She had already been called ‘just a friend’ more times than she wanted to count, and repeating that would be horrible.

Sure, the fencing lessons were probably a bad idea, but it was going to be the only time Marinette actually got to spend with Kagami. Even then, she could end up in one of Adrien’s classes. Maybe she could book private fencing lessons with Kagami. But that might cause more problems than it would solve, and going to such lengths for a simple crush was so similar to high school Marinette.

Not wanting to think about the negatives, Marinette sat back at her desk and wrote herself a note to visit the sports centre after she visited her parents in her lunch break. She could organise the lessons and be gone before Kagami caught her. Simple, really.

A week passed and Marinette still hadn’t gone to the sports centre. Whenever she was sitting at her desk, she saw the note and promised herself she would do it, but if she actually tried to book lessons she would chicken out. It had been a continuous cycle for the entire week, and Marinette was starting to feel guilty about it.

She had been waiting so long that Kagami wasn’t even in the country anymore. She was at a fencing championship in Budapest and wouldn’t get back for another week. That would be the perfect time to book those lessons, but something deep inside Marinette wanted to run into Kagami. Even if her common sense said that wouldn’t be the best idea. She was kind of bad at talking to people she had a crush on.

But she had to book those lessons. If she waited too long, Kagami would end up somewhere else in the world and she would lose her opportunity to talk to her at all. And Marinette was not going to let that happen.

She was going to the sports centre. And she was going to book those lessons.

Closing her sketchbook, Marinette stood up and grabbed her bag. Her lunch break started in a few minutes and she could head straight to the sports centre before she visited her parents for lunch. That way she couldn’t back out of it. Hopefully.

Marinette walked down the stairs as quietly as she could, hoping to sneak past Juleka, Rose and Mylene. They were all models for her and were in the shop today for fittings for the next show, and all of them would instantly know something was up.

“I didn’t think your lunch break started for another few minutes. Is something wrong?” Juleka spun in her chair, bringing her milkshake with her. She was always a little too perceptive, and Marinette had no idea how she could never sneak past any of her friends.

“Nothing, I just need to see someone quickly before I wander over to the bakery.” They could tell she was hiding something, Marinette was sure of it. They had been friends for long enough to they could see through each other instantly. It was both a blessing and a curse, depending on the situation.

The three girls studied Marinette closely, waiting for her to fold under the pressure. She always admitted what she was planning sooner or later, even if they had to call Alya in for backup.

Marinette stood awkwardly in the centre of the room, feeling all three sets of eyes as they weighed on her shoulders. They knew she was hiding something, and Marinette knew she couldn’t hide it from them forever.

“Okay, say hi to your parents for me!” Out of nowhere, Rose just turned back to the milkshake in front of her, letting Marinette off the hook.

Not wanting to be interrogated further, if you could call it that, Marinette made a break for the door. “I will, bye!”

Jogging down another flight of stairs, Marinette said goodbye to the few people in the store before swinging the doors open and making a left turn towards the sports centre. A lot of people seemed to be leaving, either for lunch or for other reasons, making it the perfect time to slip in without drawing too much attention to herself. Just what Marinette wanted.

A blast of cool air hit Marinette as she walked inside. The woman behind the reception desk looked up and smiled, recognising Marinette. “Hello, how can I help you today?”

“I’d like to book some private fencing lessons, please.”

“Is there a specific time that would suit you best? After I know that I can find a slot in someone’s timetable and fit you in there.”

Marinette thought for a few moments. She started working before the sports centre opened, and left before the centre closed. She usually didn’t have anything to do after work, though. “Is there time an hour before the centre closes?”

“That works perfectly. We work on a two-week cycle, so you have an hour lesson Monday, Wednesday, and Friday one week, and Tuesday, Thursday the other. Is that alright?”

“Those times are great, thank you so much.” Marinette grinned. She had actually booked the lessons after stalling for a week and she felt like she was on top of the world.

“Great!” A printer beeped to life in the corner of the desk and a single piece of paper slid into the receptionist’s hand. “This is all the details you’ll need; my name is Addy and you can call this number if you need anything or have any questions.”

Marinette nodded and scanned the paper quickly. Everything was written out quite simply, and everything made sense. There was a list of fencing gear Marinette would need as a minimum and a list of everything she could get. “I think this is all I need, thank you again.”

Waving goodbye to Addy, Marinette gently folded the paper and slipped it into her bag. The next place she had to be was her parent’s bakery for lunch. That was only a few minutes down the street, so she’d be there in no time.

The bell over the door chimed, announcing Marinette's arrival. Her parents looked up and smiled at her, and their customer turned around to greet her, too. It was Adrien. “Hello, Marinette!”

“Hi, Adrien!” Marinette walked over to the counter, kissing both of her parents on the cheek in greeting. “It’s been a while since I saw you here.”

“I have a longer lunch today, and I’ve been missing your parents’ croissants. Seeing you is an added bonus, we haven’t talked in ages. You’ll have to come by the sports centre soon.” Adrien grinned at her, biting into one of the croissants he’d purchased.

Without thinking, Marinette revealed where she had been only a few minutes earlier. “I actually booked some fencing lessons, so we might see each other more often from now on.”

“That’s great! I’m sure you’ll pick it up in no time, maybe you can even challenge Kagami for her title of best fencer in Paris. She’s much better than I am.” A dinging stopped Adrien from continuing. “I guess I should be on my way so I’m not late, I have a class in ten minutes. Bye, and thank you for the croissants!”

Sabine grabbed a small paper bag from the counter behind her and handed it to Marinette. “How are the designs coming along, dear?”

Marinette sighed, sitting in a nearby chair. “They’re not going well, Mama. I have so many ideas, but I just can’t get them onto paper!”

Sabine rested her hand on Marinette's shoulder, sympathetic. “The fencing will be good for you. It will help you get your mind off the designs for a while and the exercise will get the ideas buzzing around in your head.”

“I’m sure these designs will turn out as amazing as all of your others. My daughter is the most talented designer in the world!” Tom struck his signature pose, causing Marinette to giggle.

Just being with her parents made her feel better, and Marinette already felt more relaxed. She knew that no matter what happened, her family and friends would always be there for her.

That made everything feel better.


	2. The Dupain-Cheng Bakery

The flight wasn’t unusually long, only two and a half hours. That was fairly reasonable, except it made Kagami wish there was a way to make it shorter. She was getting slightly antsy, more used to being on her feet for hours at a time, working, especially in the morning. Sitting down with not much to do wasn’t really one of Kagami’s best talents.

Closing her eyes and leaning her head against the seat, Kagami let her mind run through the fencing championship again. She had won, but there had been a few moments she had been unsure of herself. That needed to be changed. If she didn’t believe in her own fencing ability, how would she keep her titles?

With her mind replaying different moves over and over, Kagami lost track of time for a while. She had nearly gone through everything she had done when the speakers crackled to life above her head. “The plane will begin descent shortly; all passengers must return to their assigned seats and fasten their seatbelts. Thank you.”

Kagami tightened her seatbelt without thinking, even though she hadn’t left her seat the entire flight. The sooner she was back on the ground, the better, and there was nothing Kagami wanted more than to get back to the sports centre and teach lessons again. Unfortunately, she wasn’t expected back at work for another few days.

Which also meant she wouldn’t see Marinette for even longer.

Sighing, Kagami checked everything was still in her bag. She wanted to get off the plane as soon as she could, no waiting for other people. Everyone around her always seemed to hesitate when they were exiting the plane, not wanting to risk pushing people around accidentally. Kagami had no such qualms. She was getting off the plane sooner rather than later.

The plane taxied down the runway and into the waiting landing bay. Out the window, Kagami could see people dotting the runway, each wearing neon vests so they were clearly visible. From where Kagami was sitting, everyone outside seemed like ants dashing around to complete their duties.

Everyone around Kagami started to move as the cabin depressurised and the door was opened. Kagami moved with them, grabbing her bag, and moving towards the door. Once she was at the door she walked faster, dodging through people towards security.

In almost no time, Kagami had cleared security and was allowed back into France without any issues. The next place Kagami headed was the baggage claim, hoping to get to the bags before anyone else and get a good space in front of the conveyer belt.

She arrived at exactly the right time. The belt beeped and whirred to life, starting to cycle the bags around the room. Kagami kept a close eye on the bags passing her, waiting for her suitcase to pass.

Despite being so quick to arrive at the conveyor belt, Kagami's bag was one of the last ones to cycle around. By the time Kagami actually had her suitcase at her feet, the room was nearly empty again. She started wheeling her bag out of the airport, knowing her mother would be waiting in the car somewhere outside. Tomoe was always like this, wanting to discuss all of Kagami's fencing as soon as Kagami was back in Paris. That was part of the reason Kagami mentally reviewed everything she did. She wanted to know exactly what she would say to her mother.

The automatic doors opened, letting a strong wind smack Kagami in the face. Her hair blew around her, obscuring her view for a few seconds. By the time she had pushed her hair out of her eyes, Kagami could see the car waiting in front of her.

Walking to the back of the car, Kagami opened the trunk and dropped her suitcase in. She needed the few extra seconds to run through everything again. Stepping backwards, Kagami watched as the trunk lowered in front of her, a signal that her mother wanted to speak to her. Sighing, Kagami walked back around the car and opened the door.

“Hello, Mother.” Kagami sat down and clicked her seatbelt into place, pulling the door shut behind her.

Tomoe continued to look straight ahead, not even turning her head to acknowledge Kagami. “Good morning, Kagami. I have been informed that you have kept your fencing titles once again.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Good. You will continue this family’s legacy, as you must. We will continue this conversation later.” Tomoe was evidently finished with Kagami’s success. It was more than likely that she already knew everything Kagami had done during each of her matches, and that everything had been analysed down to the smallest movement.

Kagami nodded, even though she knew Tomoe wouldn’t see. “I look forward to it.”

The rest of the car ride passed in silence, until the car pulled up in front of Kagami's apartment building. It was small, but having her own place to live gave Kagami the freedom she wanted. It was also only a short drive from the sports centre, something that was useful in letting Kagami see Marinette every morning.

Moving out of the car and grabbing her suitcase, Kagami stepped back onto the curb. She watched as the car drove off, quickly turning the street and disappearing. She walked into the building and unlocked her door. Her apartment was on the bottom floor, something she was happy with. That way, she could practise any of her fencing moves without worrying about disturbing the neighbours below her.

Just inside the door a magazine was lying on the floor. Kagami grinned as soon as she saw it. While she had been away, another issue of Marinette Fashions’ monthly showcase had been delivered, making it a good welcome home.

Grabbing the magazine from the floor, Kagami continued further back into her house. It was only the middle of the afternoon, giving her plenty of time to read the magazine and then get more groceries. Perfect.

Pushing her suitcase into her bedroom and sitting on one of the couches in her small living room, Kagami tore open the plastic around the magazine and flicked it open to the first page. As usual, there was a picture of Marinette standing surrounded by the models that worked for her, as well as a note from Marinette. They were all similar enough, thanking the person for buying the magazine and introducing the theme. There were also some notes about what inspired the line, followed by Marinette's signature, the one she used on every design.

Running her fingers across the glossy page, Kagami read through the contents quickly. She didn’t really have much of an interest in fashion, but she was supporting Marinette. That’s what really mattered. And even though she only bought the magazine to support Marinette, there was no denying that Marinette was talented, incredibly so.

Scanning the names of each design, Kagami found a few that interested her and memorised their page numbers, flipping to the first page that had caught her eye. As soon as the pages settled again, Kagami let her mouth drop open in awe.

The clothes in front of her were amazing, incredible, like they came straight out of a dream. It was easy to see why Marinette’s designs were so popular, they were beautiful and stylish, but also simple enough that anyone could wear them. If Kagami didn’t spend so much time in her fencing gear, she would have already filled her wardrobe with everything Marinette designed.

Continuing through the magazine, Kagami lost track of time and only realised how long she had been staring at each design when it became harder to read in the dark. It was like everything else had faded away and all she could think about were the designs on each page.

Deciding she actually needed some errands done, Kagami closed the magazine gently and set it down on the coffee table in front of her. Talking to herself while she checked her watch, she ran through the places she could get food quickly. “What time does the Dupain-Cheng bakery close?”

From what she could remember, bakery closed a little bit after five o’clock, which was only in about seven minutes. Luckily, she could use some of the backstreets and arrive in four minutes, if she ran. It would be a good way to stretch her legs after the flight and reading all afternoon. 

Kagami laced her running shoes up quickly and stretched a little before locking her door and taking off. She knew the backstreets better than she knew the back of her hand, and it was a surprisingly useful piece of knowledge to have.

As she ran closer to the bakery, the faint smell of fresh bread drifted past her. Somehow, the Dupain-Cheng bakery always smelled like someone was baking something new, no matter what time it was. Kagami wasn’t sure if it was some kind of air freshener or if there was always something in the over, but she wasn’t complaining.

Her watch showed she had arrived in record time, and there was still a few minutes before the clock struck five. Plenty of time to buy something and head home. After that, the only thing she had planned was to sit alone and ignore the TV, which would only be playing recordings of her fencing for the next few days. Kagami wasn’t in the mood to hear what every commentator in Paris thought about her sport. 

The bell chimed above her head and Kagami was enveloped in warm air. She walked over to the counter. “Hello, Mrs Cheng!”

“Hello, Kagami! It’s so nice to see you again. How was the fencing tournament?” Sabine smiled at her kindly, reaching for a paper bag and Kagami’s usual order. Whenever she wasn’t at fencing tournaments, she would come to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, and had become somewhat of a regular.

Kagami smiled, being reminded of the differences between Marinette’s mother and her own. Sabine didn’t constantly keep tabs on people like Tomoe did, instead letting people tell her what was going on in their own time. “I’m still the world champion, and it was a good time. But I am glad to be home again.”

Sabine beamed, handing the paper bag to Kagami. “I think the world’s best fencer deserves free pastries today.”

“I should pay for them, it’s not that big of a deal, really.”

“Nonsense, dear.” Sabine gently pushed Kagami’s money away and held the bag out. “I hope I can see you soon, especially after what Marinette said earlier.”

“Oh, thank you. I’ll see you soon, Mrs Cheng.”

“Call me Sabine. Bye, Kagami.” 

With a small wave, Kagami left the store and turned down the street. When she was about a block away from the bakery, the rest of Sabine’s words sunk in. Marinette had been talking about her to her parents? Surely it was just an offhanded comment since she did work with Adrien, and Marinette and Adrien were good friends. Nothing more. 

Kagami’s phone started to ring in her pocket, buzzing almost angrily. With a simple flick of her wrist, Kagami had the phone to her ear, already answered. “Hello, Kagami speaking.”

“You don’t need to be so formal on your mobile, Kagami. I know who’s going to answer the phone.”

“What if someone else answers my phone for me, Adrien? Are you always going to be sure its me talking?” Kagami leant her head against her shoulder, keeping her phone in place while she tucked her pastry bag into one of her pockets. It was a Marinette designed jacket, a birthday gift from Adrien that she treasured and wore whenever she could.

“That doesn’t matter, but do you want to know what I heard from Marinette today?”

The word Marinette clicked in Kagami’s head, and Sabine’s words came back instantly. “Sure.”

“She’s starting fencing lessons, and at our sports centre. I thought you might want to know since, you know…”

“Since what?”

“Since you never take that jacket off. I thought you might want to meet your idol.”

Kagami rolled her eyes at Adrien’s obvious attempt to tease her. “It’s just a good jacket. It stays warm in winter and cool in summer. Nothing else is going on, and Marinette isn’t my idol. I don’t even know her.”

“Sure. Anyway, I have to go. I’m meeting Nino, Alya and Marinette for movies tonight. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

“Bye, Adrien.” Kagami slid her phone back into her pocket and continued walking. Marinette had signed up for fencing lessons? She already had a busy schedule, between the hours she spent working and making sure all of her fashion shows ran smoothly, where was she going to fit fencing lessons in?

“This is just a set of coincidences, nothing is connected. Stop overthinking, Tsurugi. Trying to see into the future only helps when you’re fencing, and this isn’t fencing.” With a definitive nod, Kagami stop talking to herself and continued walking. She didn’t stop overthinking, though.


	3. Morning Conversation

Kagami couldn’t wait to get back to work. She loved the sports centre with all of her heart, and adored everyone she worked with. Even though most of them had been friends in high school, they welcomed Kagami like they had known her forever.

The morning she was returning, Kagami was awake before the sun. With plenty of time to kill, she decided to go on a run while the sun rose. She usually ran on one of the treadmills at the sports centre, but the crisp morning air would do her some good after all the stuffy fencing arenas.

She ran until her watch buzzed against her wrist, telling her she only had an hour until she usually arrived at work. Looking around, Kagami realised she had been zoning out so much, she had no clue where she was. Surely, it wouldn’t be too hard to work out where she was, there was bound to be a train map somewhere. If not, Kagami would have to resort to asking people for directions, as she always left her phone at home if she ran.

Looking around, Kagami scoured her surroundings for anything that could tell her where she was. There was nothing. Kagami cursed, trying to work out which person near her looked the friendliest, and least interested in fencing. After one or two bad experiences with people a little too obsessed with the sport, Kagami had realised that some people were better avoided.

Just as she was about to ask someone for help, Adrien drove around the corner. Waving to him, Kagami felt a wave of relief wash over her. Adrien always managed to show up at the right time for everything, like he had some kind of hidden superpower.

Adrien slowed to a stop on the edge of the street and rolled his window down. Kagami walked over to him, giving him a small wave. “You have a habit of arriving at the right time, Adrien.”

“I’m glad I can be of use. Do you need a ride somewhere?”

“That would be awesome, thanks. I usually arrive at work in an hour, and I kind of zoned out while I was running.” Kagami explained, stretching an arm out while she spoke.

Nodding, Adrien tapped the passenger seat. “I’ll take you home, I couldn’t have you missing your morning conversation with Marinette, could I?”

Kagami rolled her eyes and opened the passenger door, stepping up into the car. “It has nothing to do with that, I just like to be early.”

“Sure. Anyway, Marinette starts fencing lessons this afternoon and I don’t know which one of us is teaching her yet. You might still have a chance to talk to D’argencourt.” Giving Kagami a knowing look, Adrien pulled away from the curb and onto the road. “We should be at your house in about ten minutes. How long did it take you to run this far?”

“I left with the sun, so only an hour, two at most.” Every minute that she was behind schedule was a minute that made Kagami worry she was going to be late. Sure, she didn’t take an hour to get ready, but it was better to be early than just on time.

Adrien glanced at Kagami, wondering where she got all the energy from. “Are you still going to train before the centre opens?”

“Probably not as much, but I will. Usually, I run on a treadmill at the centre, but since I’ve already run, I won’t have to do it again. That really only leaves practising the moves I’m teaching some of my classes today.”

“Where do you even get all this energy?”

Kagami grinned at Adrien. “I go to sleep at a reasonable hour, instead of staying up past midnight to play whichever version of Ultimate Mecha Strike you’re playing at the minute.”

“I don’t stay up that late.” As they stopped at an intersection, Adrien gave Kagami a look. It was one of the ones he had been working on since they were both in high school, and Kagami knew exactly what it meant. They knew each other so well that they could hold a full conversation with nothing but facial expressions, and Adrien was saying ‘just because you’re right doesn’t mean I’m admitting to anything’. That was a common one.

“Is that why you post ‘gaming success’ at three in the morning?”

“You don’t need to keep proving me wrong, I already know my sleep schedule is out of whack. I guess that’s what happens when I don’t have my father’s person assistant staring over my shoulder and telling me when I’m allowed to breathe.” That was an over-exaggeration, but Adrien couldn’t help but smile when Kagami started laughing.

Throwing her hands into the air a little, Kagami stopped laughing long enough to speak, even though there was still a huge smile on her face. “Surely, Nathalie wasn’t that bad. You should have tried living with my mother. Even now she’s still keeping track of me!”

“How could I forget about the formidable Tomoe Tsurugi?” Adrien laughed and slowed down again, pulling into the carpark next to Kagami’s apartment building. “We have arrived. See you at work in a few hours.”

Hopping back out of the car, Kagami shut the door with a slight ‘slam’ and stepped back. “I’m sure I will. Thank you for the ride, Adrien.”

“Any time you need me.” Watching until Adrien’s car had disappeared around the corner, Kagami turned on her heel and hurried inside the building. She only had forty-five minutes before she wanted to arrive at work. She had to hurry, even if it was only slightly.

Twenty minutes later, Kagami was standing in her kitchen preparing breakfast. Luckily, she still had a few protein bars lying around and some fruit juice that didn’t seem to have an expiration date. It would have to do until she could go shopping properly this afternoon.

Time was slowly trickling away. After she had finished breakfast, her watch showed she had eleven minutes, and the centre was a ten minute walk away. Since she was still trying to recover from the plane flights, Kagami decided against using her car. Grabbing her bag from the coffee table as she passed, Kagami grabbed her running shoes and slid her feet into them while she walked, only stopping to tie them in record time. She had places to be.

Birds were chirping and the streets were slowly coming to life as Kagami speed walked in the direction of the sports centre. By the time she arrived, Kagami had almost been counting down the steps because of how excited she was. Not only was she getting back to the sports centre, one of her favourite places in the world, she got a chance to compliment Marinette on the designs from her latest magazine.

Just as Kagami was walking up the path to the front doors, she heard a door slam shut and footsteps coming closer to her. Marinette’s cheery voice called out to her, instantly making Kagami smile. “Hello, Kagami! It’s nice to see you again, and congratulations with the fencing.”

Marinette was Kagami’s favourite person to receive compliments and congratulations from. She was always so bubbly and nothing she ever said sounded insincere. Deciding she would actually start a proper conversation with Marinette today, Kagami walked over to the waist height fence between them. “Thank you, Marinette. I saw your latest design magazine, too, and it was amazing. You’re incredibly talented.”

Colour bloomed into Marinette’s cheeks, a dead giveaway she wasn’t expecting Kagami to say that. She seemed flustered, almost as if her brain was malfunctioning. A simple compliment couldn’t really have that big of an effect, could it? After all, it was true and Marinette would have people showering her in compliments all the time.

“Uh… thank you, Kagami. I didn’t know you were interested in fashion?” Marinette was still bright red, and Kagami thought she looked adorable.

Leaning her hip against the fence, Kagami let herself drift a bit closer to Marinette. “It’s hard not to be interested when the clothes in your magazine are so amazing every single time. I’m surprised you’re not the most famous fashion designer in the world by now, you deserve it.”

Marinette’s mouth dropped open before closing again. It seemed she had nothing to say. Was it possible that she felt the same way about Kagami as Kagami felt about her?

“I suppose I should let you get to work, the CEO of the company shouldn’t be late, should she? I might see you again at fencing lessons this afternoon. Goodbye, Marinette.” Turning to walk into the sports centre, Kagami looked back over her shoulder and sent a quick wink to Marinette, who somehow grew even more red.

The second Kagami walked into the building, she realised what she had just done. She’d just winked at Marinette without even thinking about the consequences. What if she had read the situation wrong and Marinette didn’t actually have feelings for her? She would have made a huge fool out of herself and Marinette would never want to speak to her again.

“Hello again, Kagami!” At that very moment, Adrien walked through the other door, stopping next to Kagami. “Why do you look like you’ve seen death already this morning?”

Covering her face with her hands, Kagami groaned, embarrassed with herself. “I winked at Marinette and now she’ll never want to speak to me again.”

Throwing an arm around Kagami’s shoulder, Adrien led them both towards Armand D’argencourt’s office. “From the look on Marinette’s face out there, I don’t think you need to worry about ruining your chances with her. Quite the opposite, if I’m being honest.”

“Really?”

“One hundred percent. Now, let’s get you instated as Marinette’s private fencing teacher, shall we?”


	4. Friendly Interrogation

The text with the last information came through to Marinette’s phone twenty minutes before she was going to leave to lunch. It said Adrien would be her teacher, confirmed the times for her lessons and provided a link to a calendar with all the dates programmed in.   
  


Though Adrien was one of her closest friends, Marinette couldn’t help but feel disappointed he was her teacher. At least there was still a chance she would run into Kagami outside of lessons. At least she had the fencing lessons. That meant she was one step closer to having a proper conversation with Kagami, when she was prepared and could actually respond, unlike this morning.

What had happened to her this morning? She had just planned to congratulate Kagami on keeping her title before disappearing to work, but instead Kagami had to compliment her designs. The instant Kagami had said her designs were amazing, Marinette was a goner.

The last time Marinette could remember feeling like this was when she had that crazily out on control crush on Adrien in high school. Thank goodness she had grown out of that, but to start feeling like a teenager again was ridiculous!

A quiet knock on Marinette’s office door alerted her to the presence of her friends only seconds before the door swung open. Juleka, Rose and Mylene all stood in the doorway, smiling like the cats that had gotten the canary. They knew something they shouldn’t, and the look on their faces was making Marinette slightly nervous.

“Kagami Tsurugi, huh?” Juleka entered the room first, followed by Rose, then Mylene. They blocked the door completely, barring any escape Marinette could have made.

Marinette turned in her chair, trying to appear as normal as she could. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, we barely have anything to do with each other.”

“You were flirting with each other this morning outside,” Rose gushed, clasping her hands next to her face. She was always a sucker for romance, and the prospect of Marinette focusing on something other than work for a while made her feel happy for her friend.

Mylene nodded, agreeing with Rose. “No one else saw you, though. Don’t worry.”

“We weren’t flirting, I just wanted to congratulate her for winning the championships and she said she liked the designs in the last magazine. That’s it.” Grabbing a pencil from her desk, Marinette bounced it against her leg. She was letting nervous energy out and knew it made her look as suspicious as she possibly could, but she needed something else to focus on. Something other than Kagami Tsurugi and how she winked at her this morning.

All three girls place a hand on their hip in sync. Juleka spoke again, repeating the order from before. “It didn’t look like that when you were standing out there frozen for nearly twenty minutes this morning.”

“You would make such a cute couple!”

“Look, I don’t even know if she likes me back, and we’re so different to each other anyway. She’s all serious and confident and knows what she’s doing all the time and I still trip over nothing and can’t speak to Kagami without getting flustered.” Marinette dropped the pencil back onto her desk, opting instead for dramatic hand gestures.

Mylene looked at Marinette as if she was growing another head. “If you don’t know how she feels about you, just ask her. Then you don’t have to worry about working out if there’s a hidden meaning everything she says!”

Rose and Juleka both nodded, both of them agreeing. Marinette had helped all of her friends with their relationships at one point or another, and now this was a chance to return the favour.

Juleka stepped forward and touched Marinette’s arm gently. “You deserve to know Marinette. I’m sure if you actually asked, you would find out that she feels the exact same way about you. Trust me.”

“I don’t want to get hurt, though.” The nonchalant expression on Marinette’s face dropped, leaving only the scared high schooler behind. “I can just get over it. After all, it’s just a crush and I have moved on before. This won’t be any different.”

Mylene looked at Rose and nodded. It was time for their backup plan, which happened to include lots of hugs and possibly a call to Alya. Depending on what time it was where Alya was staying, and how Marinette felt.

Enveloping Juleka and Marinette in a hug, Rose and Mylene tried to squeeze all the sadness out of their friend. It had worked every time, even in the worst situations. That’s why it was the backup; it was too powerful for everyday use.

“Woah, can’t breathe!” Though Marinette appreciated her friends and their efforts to cheer her up, she knew there was no way she could just ask Kagami about her feelings. Besides, there were other things to worry about. Things like the fencing lessons with Adrien this afternoon, and more importantly, the rapidly approaching deadline for new designs that still weren’t making an appearance. After that was out of the way, then she could worry about Kagami.

When the girls pulled away, they could still see the apprehension in Marinette’s eyes. They knew Marinette was just going to ignore her feelings again, probably hurting herself more in the process. It looked like matters were about to get taken into their own hands.

“If you don’t want to ask her how she feels, we’ll do it for you.” Rose seemed happy with her plan. The only issue that could possibly occur was if Kagami didn’t feel the same way, like they all thought. Then it would fall to Rose to tell Marinette that her feelings were one sided. That might actually be worse…

Marinette shook her head rapidly, eyes wide. “You can’t do that! She’ll know you’re asking for me!”

“Then we can get Adrien to ask her. He works with Kagami, so it won’t seem too suspicious.” Juleka grabbed her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through some contacts. When she found the right one, she turned her phone so Marinette could see Adrien looking back at her from within the screen. “One press and we can get him to find out. Easy.”

“Not easy. But I guess it might work. Just tell him to be subtle.”

|~|

“Do you have a crush on Marinette?”

Juleka had called him at the right time, he had just gotten back to the staff locker room when his phone began to ring. Only minutes later, Kagami had walked in and he could jump straight into the first part of his plan.

“She’s nice and everything, but I don’t like her like that.” Kagami was bluffing. She was a terrible liar, she was terrible keeping any kind of secrets.

All it would take for his friends to admit their feelings for each other was a little made up timetable error. It wasn’t really even lying, since the class Adrien taught before Marinette’s lesson did run a little overtime. That wouldn’t be fair to Marinette, and since Kagami had a break before the lesson, she could swap places with Adrien. Simple.

Kagami had walked into the locker room expecting it to be empty. Instead, she was confronted by Adrien Agreste asking about her feelings for Marinette. Apparently, she wasn’t doing a good job of hiding her feelings and other people were starting to notice that she did, in fact, have a ridiculously large crush on Marinette. With a few hours of exercise to clear her mind, Kagami had come to terms with her feelings.

“I need to ask you a favour.” The look on Adrien’s face said he was up to something, more than just trying to get Kagami to tell him about her crush.

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” Opening her locker and setting her helmet and foil inside, Kagami turned to look at Adrien. He was definitely planning something, she just had to work out what it was so she could be prepared. Adrien seemed to think that the best way to get people to agree to things was to surprise them and not give them time to think. But she knew him too well, and it didn’t work on her anymore.

Adrien grinned. Even though Kagami thought she had him worked out, this would throw her. “There’s been a schedule issue pop up while you were gone, and I need you to take one of my classes. I have two back to back and the first one always runs overtime, so if you can take it, I’ll take your new class that ends right on closing. You’d really help me out, and D’argencourt really wasn’t budging.”

Rolling her eyes, Kagami thought over the situation. Adrien always managed to get himself into these messes, promising people he would do things before realising everything needed to be done at once, then asking for help. “I’ll help you, on one condition.”

“Anything.”

“You have to pack up after closing after all the lessons I take for you.” It was the worst job. Cleaning and packing the equipment took forever and was always gross, especially after the little kids had their fencing lessons. Even though they were only supposed to take their masks off when they couldn’t stab each other in the eye accidentally, every single foil ended up covered in some kind of liquid and it was disgusting.

It always fell upon the last person to have a class, so usually it was shared out. The best part about the agreement was that the timing lined up so well that Adrien would be the only one with the task until either of their schedules changed. Exactly Kagami wanted to hear.

Pursing his lips and nodding slowly, Adrien began mentally preparing himself early. He owed this to Marinette and Kagami. If cleaning a few masks and foils every night made them happy, he could suck it up until classes changed. “Fine.”

“Great! I’m glad we could come to such a reasonable decision. Drop the information in my locker and I’ll grab it when I come back from lunch. I think I’m going to head out today, would you like me to grab anything for you?”

“You don’t usually go out to get lunch, are you trying something new? Maybe someone is rubbing off on you.”

  
“Maybe I just decided to do something different for a change. That’s it.” Grabbing her backpack, Kagami hoisted the bag over her head and looped the straps over her arms. She headed for the door, her stomach starting to grumble.

Adrien watched as she disappeared behind another wall and pulled his phone out. Barely looking what he was doing, he had dialled the last number to have called him. Juleka picked up almost instantly. “Did you find out?”

“She definitely likes Marinette, it’s just a case of getting them admit it to each other. I have a plan, you just have to make sure Marinette doesn’t quit fencing lessons after today.”

  
“Aren’t you her teacher?”

“A little bit of a ‘timetabling issue’ came up and Kagami is taking that class instead. Don’t tell Marinette, though. This is happening behind everyone’s backs, so it has to be a secret.”

Juleka caught onto the hidden meaning behind Adrien’s words. “Ah, of course. Our little secret. I won’t tell a soul. Bye, Adrien!”

“Bye, Juleka!” Adrien ended the call and dropped his phone back into his bag. Looking at the clock, he stretched his arms above his head. “Maybe I should become a matchmaker, because this is too easy.”


	5. The First Lesson

Strolling into the sports centre, Marinette walked over to Addy sitting behind the front desk. “Hi! I’m here for my fencing lesson. I received a text about it a few hours ago.”

“Excellent! If you go through the doors on the left to the end of the hallway you’ll find the fencing rooms. Enjoy your lesson!” Addy waved Marinette through. Marinette glanced around the room for a second before following the directions she had been given.

Before walking through the doors, Marinette turned back to Addy for a moment. “Thank you!”

The doors closed before Marinette could hear a reply, leaving her alone in the hallway lined with fencing memorabilia and newspaper cuttings. Most of them centred around Armand D’argencourt, but Kagami featured a few times, mostly for winning her titles again and again. How many times was she the world champion already?

A sign next to the door read ‘Private Fencing Lessons’. A piece of paper with the emblem she had designed was stuck to the door with sticky tape, and showed a timetable for the day. Marinette Dupain-Cheng filled the last slot for the day, next to Adrien Agreste. Years ago, that would have made her panic, but now it calmed her nerves. At least she wouldn’t be stuttering and flustered all lesson.

Pushing the final set of doors open, Marinette looked around. There was even more fencing memorabilia decorating the top third of the walls, with equipment covering nearly every other blank wall space. It seemed like a lot of people came in groups for private lessons rather than just join a regular class. Fortunately, it was only Marinette now, which meant she couldn’t embarrass herself.

Just as Marinette was about to pick a helmet up from one of the shelves lining the room, the doors swung open again. Adrien must have arrived. A quick glance at the clock on the far wall told Marinette he was perfectly on time, like always.

Turning around, Marinette was about to greet Adrien when she locked eyes with Kagami. The very woman she had a crush on, and the reason she had signed up for fencing lessons in the first place. SO why was she so nervous to be in the room with her? This was part of her plan, after all, and it was finally dropping into place.

Even though things were working out the way she had planned and everything seemed to be running smoothly, questions began to form in Marinette’s head. Her mind flicked between the possibility of Adrien being injured, or Adrien avoiding her, and she couldn’t work out which one was worse. Deciding to ask Kagami what was going on, Marinette walked back towards the door. “I thought Adrien was teaching my lessons?”

Kagami felt her stomach twist. Did Marinette not want to see her? It had to have something to do with the fact that Kagami winked at her earlier that morning. She had managed to make Marinette uncomfortable and ruin her chances completely. Exactly what she had been worrying about. “There was a timetable error so Adrien had a class that runs over the start of this one. He didn’t think it was fair to you, so he asked me to swap classes. If you’d rather Adrien teaches you, we can work something out.”

  
Marinette panicked. Had she sounded like she didn’t want Kagami to teach her? That wasn’t her intention at all, she just wondered what had happened to Adrien. “No, I didn’t mean it like that, this is fine, this is _good_, Adrien just didn’t tell me he had swapped with you. Don’t worry about it.”

In front of Marinette’s eyes, Kagami relaxed. She reached over to one of the shelves and grabbed a helmet, offering it to Marinette. “Should we get started? I want to see how much you know about fencing and teach you a few basic things soon.”

“That sounds great.” Grinning, Marinette took the helmet from Kagami. She already had fencing gear in her bag and she hoped it was the right material. If not, she could find some kind of alternative until she made a new set.

“Do you need a uniform, or do you already have one?”

Pulling a part of the uniform out of her bag, Marinette grinned proudly. “I have something that I whipped up a little while ago. I hope it’s okay.”

Stepping closer, Kagami grabbed the uniform gently and feeling it between her fingers. It was perfectly made, with the right material and everything. How had she managed to make this so well? Kagami almost thought she was feeling professionally made uniforms. Marinette was a professional, of course, but in her field, not fencing uniforms. “This is perfect.”

Marinette felt her cheeks flush, remembering how she felt earlier that morning when Kagami had complimented her other designs. Realising she probably looked like she was zoning out, she cursed herself for acting like she did in high school; unable to function around her crush.

“I had a few different sporting uniform materials lying around from a few weeks ago, I was experimenting with them and had enough left over for this.” For some reason Marinette felt like she needed to explain herself. Whether it was Kagami’s eyes or their proximity, it felt wrong to leave so much silence in their conversation.

“There’s a bathroom over there, you should get changed.” Kagami gestured to another door between shelves. “I’ll get everything else ready.”

Nodding, Marinette stepped back so the uniform slipped from Kagami’s grasp. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”

Kagami let Marinette scurry away, halfway to another world. She knew she had to get the masks and foils ready, but Marinette was so cute when she blushed…

No. She had to concentrate. She was working and Marinette was paying for fencing lessons, not to be flirted with. _‘Get yourself together, Tsurugi.’_

In the bathroom, Marinette stared at herself in the mirror. She looked flustered, and it was completely because of Kagami. Maybe these lessons were a bad idea. If she quit now, she would be able to say fencing just wasn’t for her, even though she hadn’t started even started fencing yet.

“You don’t get to quit now.” Marinette pointed a finger in her reflection’s face, giving herself a pep talk. Even though her original plan hadn’t accounted for being terrible at talking to Kagami, she was finally making steps in the right direction. If she quit now, Kagami would think Marinette was trying to get away from her, and that was the opposite of what Marinette wanted to do.

How long had she been in here? It seemed like ages had passed, but there was no clock nearby. Kagami was probably waiting for her, and here she was, thinking about running away from everything. Tragic. Time was running out and if Marinette stayed where she was any longer, the lesson would be over.

As a last minute way to get her thoughts in order, Marinette pushed her fingers through her hair, throwing it back over her shoulders. Marinette grabbed a hair tie from her bag and opened the door with her shoulder. Once she was back in the main room she began taking deep breaths, trying to keep her nerves in check.

It was just fencing, she could manage through the rest of the hour. When she was fencing, she could block out everything else and concentrate on the task at hand, and just forget about her feelings for a while. Or so she hoped. The instant she stepped back outside the bathroom and caught sight of Kagami, her previous thoughts went out the window.

Standing across the room from her, Kagami was rearranging helmets. Following the same process each time, she picked a helmet up, flipped it upside down and placed it where Marinette could only assume was its correct position. Kagami’s face was scrunched up slightly with concentration, making sure every single helmet was where it belonged.

When Kagami noticed she was being watched, she turned, looking straight into Marinette’s eyes. Neither of them said anything for a few seconds, until Kagami broke the silence. “Are you ready to begin?”

Marinette tossed her hair back into a ponytail quickly, rolling her shoulders and beginning to bounce on the balls of her feet. “As soon as I put my bag down.”

Gently stretching her arms in different directions, Kagami drew slow circles in the air with one foot. She always started her stretches slowly before continuing with slower versions of different fencing moves. Some of them were simple lunges, others that she had been perfecting over time until they were recognisable as hers.

Marinette dropped her bag into the corner and returned to stand near Kagami, waiting for some kind of instruction. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

Finishing her last stretch, Kagami reached for the helmet she had picked out for Marinette. “Try this on, then we can start with the basics.”


	6. Making Bets

Once the lesson was over and Marinette had left, Kagami rushed straight for the staff locker room. She had to talk to Adrien and get their timetable issues sorted out before she did something both she and Marinette would regret. Kagami cursed herself for being so impulsive, wondering why she couldn’t control her emotions like she could in high school.

When she thought about it, Kagami longed for the days where all she had to worry about was not disappointing her mother and being good at fencing. Things had changed so much since then, and sometimes it was a bit overwhelming. Juggling her job, her fencing career, her mother’s expectations and all of her adult responsibilities had been easy enough, but when feelings for Marinette were thrown into the mix everything went haywire.

Alix, Kim, Ondine and Adrien were already in the locker room when Kagami burst in. All of them looked up from their conversation when she entered, but none of them said anything, slightly confused as to why Kagami looked so flustered and panicked.

Kagami marched over to Adrien, cornering him so he couldn’t escape. “We have to switch our classes back!”

“You’ll have to talk to D’argencourt about that one, and I don’t think he wants to reshuffle any more schedules this month. He was complaining so much about having to split the last class of the day, and he isn’t in a good mood already.”

“When is he ever in a good mood?” Kim interrupted, remembering all the times someone in the pool had gotten water a little too close to the cranky fencing instructor, resulting in them almost being banned from the centre completely.

Everyone but Kagami laughed. The two fencing teachers were the only ones to not have had a run in with their boss, whether it was over equipment or the amount of noise coming from their lessons. Until this morning, Kagami hadn’t spoken to him since she became a fencing teacher. Not that she was complaining, he was quite an unpleasant person when someone bothered him.

“How am I going to act professionally around Marinette, though? One lesson was hard enough, I’m never going to survive!” Kagami whispered angrily at Adrien, about to start pulling her hair out. If they couldn’t fix their timetable issues, there must be another solution somewhere.

Ondine and Alix appeared next to Kagami, leaning in. Ondine connected the dots first. “You have a crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

“No, I don’t have a crush on her! I just don’t think I’m the best person to be her fencing teacher, that’s all.” Kagami waved her hands in front of her face, as if she were swatting thoughts of Marinette away.

“You wouldn’t be the first one to have a crush on Marinette, heaps of people did in high school!” Alix piped up, starting to count names on her fingers. “Nino and Nathaniel, probably Chloe at some point.”

“Yeah, Marinette was a crush magnet, you should just ask her out.” Kim nodded. He didn’t really know what was happening or when Kagami had started to develop a crush on Marinette, but he would support both of his friends no matter what.

Kagami groaned, sitting on the middle bench seat of the locker room. “For the last time, I don’t have a crush on Marinette! Even if I did, there’s nothing I could do about it because I would be fired. You know what D’argencourt is like, after all!”

D’argencourt was notorious for worrying about his reputation above all else. At the first sign something threatened that, he would swoop in and either remove or destroy it immediately. The story that everyone had concocted was that he was still reeling from losing the election and being akumatised because of it, even though they didn’t have much evidence for it.

“I have an idea!” Throwing the towel off her shoulders, Ondine opened her locker and grabber her phone. “We just need to tell Marinette how you feel so you can date her and teach her how to fence somewhere else where D’argencourt can’t get to you! Let me call Rose or Juleka.”

“No! You can’t do that, I don’t even think she likes me back. I just want to either switch our lessons back or find a way to avoid my feelings for long enough to teach Marinette, nothing else. I’m professional and I am going to stay that way.”

“Regardless of how cute you think Marinette is.” Kim finished for Kagami, hoping she would fall for it and admit to her feelings.

Alix, Ondine, Kim and Adrien let out a muted cheer, watching as Kagami realised what she had said. The colour drained for a few seconds before she began to turn red.

Leaping out of her seat, Kagami began to pace the length of the locker room, trying to deny everything, even though she was definitely too late for it. “That isn’t what I mean! You’re shifty, Kim.”

“I don’t care how shifty I have to be to get you to ask Marinette on a date, I’ll even make a bet with you if I have to.”

“You said no more bets after you lost the race with me!” Ondine crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. While she hadn’t gone to high school with Kim, Alix had filled her in on the ridiculous amount of bets Kim had made, to the point where everyone wanted him to lose them so he could be banned from making any more bets.

“And after you lost the fencing match with me.” Adrien added.

“That doesn’t matter right now, we just have to get Kagami to admit her feelings.” Kim looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck, hoping someone else could take the attention away from him.

Then a thought occurred to Kagami. Her class wasn’t supposed to end until right on closing time, yet Adrien was here before her when he took over that class. How had he arrived back from his class earlier than she did? “How did you arrive back from your class so early? I thought it was supposed to run right until closing time?”

“You weren’t supposed to come back to work until tomorrow, so the class was cancelled. I’ve being doing odd jobs I needed to finish.”

He was right, though Kagami had completely forgotten. Instead of staying in Madrid for another day, Kagami had decided to come home early and come back to work a day early, too. That would explain the class being cancelled, but if her class was cancelled Adrien should have been able to take Marinette’s class today. Kagami’s suspicions were confirmed, Adrien was plotting something.

“I have another idea.” Watching his reaction, Adrien began to think about how Marinette used to act in high school. Whenever you spoke to her, you could almost always see what she was thinking or feeling from how she reacted. If she was still easy enough to read, anyone could just ask her what her feelings for Kagami were and she would reveal them without even speaking!

Kagami shook her head. Adrien was the absolute worst at being subtle and any one of his plans might involve locking Marinette and Kagami in room until “You always have terrible ideas when it comes to this kind of thing, I don’t want to hear it.”

The bell above the door of the boutique chimed as Adrien walked in. Though Kagami had said his plan was only going to prove her right, Adrien knew all of her feelings were reciprocated, if the call from Juleka earlier that day was anything to go by. He just had to find Marinette and ask her about Kagami.

Marinette was on the main floor of the shop, helping customers find a specific shirt they were looking for. When she heard the bell, she looked up and saw Adrien coming towards her. Asking the customer to give her a moment and pointing them in the direction of the changerooms, Marinette gave her full attention to Adrien. “Hi, Adrien! I didn’t think I would see you in here for a while. How can I help you?”

“I just came to ask how the fencing lessons went. I know you would have just gotten back, so I thought I would pay you a visit.” Adrien grinned, flashing the model smile he only used when he was trying to get something.

Pausing, Marinette felt her brain begin to malfunction. She had mostly been blocking out the memories of her fencing lesson because then thoughts of Kagami took over, and she was working. “It was good, I feel like I learned a lot and I can’t wait for my next lesson.”

Adrien raised his eyebrow. “Is that the only reason you want to go back?”

He was onto her. Giving Adrien her most normal-looking fake smile, Marinette grabbed some clothes off a rack and began to rearrange them while she spoke. “Yes, it is. I know you’re trying to get me to say something else, but I’m not going to fall for it. Subtly isn’t your strong suit, Adrien Agreste.”

“What are you talking about? I’m great at being subtle. I even asked Kagami about her feelings and I don’t even think she suspected what I was doing!”

“You what?” Marinette grabbed Adrien by the arm and dragged him behind the counter and through the door to the staffroom. “What do you mean asked her about her feelings? She probably doesn’t have any for me!”

“I can assure you, she does. You should have seen how badly she started blushing when I asked her to teach your class because of the timetabling issues. Bright red, she has it bad for you. I promise.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

“If I’m wrong, I will swan dive into the Seine.” Adrien knew he was right, which meant he could make all the ridiculous bets he wanted.

Marinette smirked. “I’ll take you up on that. If Kagami really does like me the same way I like her, I’ll get you free bakery food for a week.”

“Prepare your food, Dupain-Cheng.”

“Prepare your swan diving skills, Agreste.”

“It’s on.”

“I will see you tomorrow. Get ready to lose the bet.”

“See you tomorrow!”

The second Adrien was out the door, he started to grin. Not only was he going to get his friends to admit their feelings for each other, he was going to get free pastries for a week. It was the perfect outcome, and the only thing between now and tomorrow was all the equipment had had to clean. Oh dear. He wasn’t looking forward to that.


	7. A Secret Sketchbook

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having a bit of writer's block at the moment, but hopefully after this chapter it can be a bit better

The conversation with Adrien had left Marinette a little shaky. He could read her like a book, and she knew that she must have looked like a book with its pages dyed red. Even though Adrien’s confirmation of Kagami’s feelings soothing her nerves slightly, Marinette realised that now there were only two options going forward; either one of them makes a move or they both ignore their feelings until they go away. 

While the former was a more pleasant, yet no less terrifying, option, the latter was starting to look more realistic. If Adrien had to be a go-between for them, how would either of them actually make any progress? They would end up pining for more time before work so they could talk to each other without really getting anywhere, until they eventually grew apart and forgot each other.

When she had arrived home, the first thing she did was lock herself in her office. Even though she lived alone, the locked door made her less paranoid when she was drawing in a specific sketchbook.

On the outside, the sketchbook looked just like any other you could buy in a store, but what was on the inside was more than a little embarrassing. The pages were filled with sketches of Kagami and the fencing fashion line she wanted to create.

Ever since her crush on Kagami began to develop, she had used the sketchbook as a way to control her feelings, putting her emotions onto a page and then sealing them away in her desk draw. Keeping her ‘dark secrets’ behind multiple locks, a passcode and a fingerprint scanner made her feel infinitely better.

Trying to find space on a page, Marinette found a blank page stuck between two other pages filled with moments from Kagami’s fencing tournaments. When she watched them, she would often draw Kagami as she lunged or parried, each sketch holding just a little more detail than just a fan would give them.

Grabbing a pencil from her desk, Marinette began to sketch a scene she remembered from fencing lessons. When it had happened, she felt like she was watching everything in third person instead of through her own eyes, but she wasn’t complaining. Seeing herself and Kagami together was like a glimpse into the future she wished they could have, and it was quite pleasant. 

The drawing bloomed before Marinette’s eyes as her hand worked on autopilot. She had drawn Kagami so many times that she could probably do it blindfolded. Maybe that was creepy, but it wasn’t the worst thing she had done when she had a crush.

It was a good thing this book was locked away. After she had built her diary box in high school, Marinette had kept upgrading it until she couldn’t improve on it any further. Once that happened, she enlisted the help of Max Kante to improve it even further.

Now, instead of just having a lock on a box, she had a fingerprint scanner (a prototype, but a fingerprint scanner nonetheless), a passcode on the diary box, a lock on the drawer she kept the diary in, and a lock on the door to her office. Not only that, but because of the locks on the drawer being installed wrong and partially jamming the drawer itself, there was only one way to get it open. The only person who knew the exact pattern of drawer shifting and shaking was Marinette, and she intended to keep it that way.

With her latest drawing finished, Marinette decided to flip back through the pages she had already finished. Each one was covered in all types of art materials, ranging from watercolours and pencils to ink and decorative tape. Some pages were filled with Kagami, while others were covered in copies of her fencing outfits. There was even a chunk of pages with nothing but the fencing line Marinette wanted to create front and centre.

She had been working on it almost as long as she had a crush on Kagami, but was too worried about it clashing with her brand to make it. Nearly everything she designed fitted in the vein of everyday clothing that could be worn by everyone. By creating a fencing line, she blocked anyone who didn’t fence. It would be her least successful line in history, and it might ruin her reputation altogether. This just seemed to be another clothing line that was going to stay in the pages of her sketchbook forever.

It wasn’t uncommon for Marinette to do that. She had to be completely happy with the line and sure it would sell, otherwise she would never let anyone else see it. She had a brand and a reputation to keep consistent, and she was too successful to make risky moves now. As far as she saw it, the only way to go from here was up.

Reaching the end of the sketchbook, Marinette flicked back to her newest drawing. It would look good in watercolours. While she was grabbing her watercolour set, she turned the TV on and lowered the volume. The news was starting, which would make good background noise. There usually wasn’t much worth reporting on unless she launched a new line or Jagged Stone was preparing for a new tour, but they always seemed to find something.

Marinette poured two glasses of water for her watercolours and wandered back to her desk. Above her, the news presenter was speaking about the latest victories in Kagami’s fencing career. A lot of people in Paris were huge fans of Kagami, Adrien, and fencing in general, so the regular updates made sense.

The last images of Kagami faded off screen and was replaced with images of the sporting centre. Even though she was barely paying attention, Marinette picked up on the presenter saying her name. When she looked up, she watched herself entering the centre and leaving an hour later, her hair tied up and her face flushed. The news reporter mentioned fans speculating about Adrien and Marinette, causing Marinette to roll her eyes. Since Alya began travelling more for her journalism, the quality of the news in Paris had dropped ridiculously.

Rolling her eyes, Marinette flicked through the channels until she found a radio channel playing popular French songs. Anything was better than listening to the results of a slow news day, and she would lose herself in the art soon anyway.

Within five minutes, she was finished with the watercolours completely and was watching as they dried, slowly turning more pale. Another few layers would probably have to be added and Marinette wanted them done as soon as she possibly could. It was a shame she didn’t have this kind of motivation when she was working on the new designs. She never had any issues drawing Kagami or any of the fencing designs, they always came easy to her. 

The next morning came quickly and Marinette was awake long before she usually was. If she had design ideas she would be ecstatic, but she didn’t, and she wasn’t. The extra hours were just more time she could’ve gotten jobs done that ended up getting wasted.

Allowing herself to daydream, Marinette wandered down the stairs into her kitchen. She had left her sketchbook on the windowsill to catch the last of the sunlight and dry, and her eye caught on it when she looked around. What would it be like if the line was actually created? 

Maybe creating one of the outfits would help her get the urge to submit the designs out of her system. Seeing a single outfit against the rest of her design would surely quell the desire to see models wearing fencing uniforms strut down a runway in front of critics and fans. Right?

Her office above the store would be the best place to work. This early in the morning, there would be no one else around and she could keep her little project a secret. She could eat breakfast while she was there, and then she could get on with whatever else she needed to.

Time was running out on her deadlines, so she had to find something to inspire her. The timing between her lines was very specific and always the same, and the new line wasn’t going to be any different. She would find something that inspired her, and then she would be back on track.

As soon as she pulled up outside the boutique, Marinette realised she had arrived so early that she was going to miss Kagami and they probably wouldn’t see each other today. She didn’t have another fencing lesson until tomorrow, which sucked even more. 

Hopefully this line would be worth it.


	8. Phone Number

Kagami was intercepted by Adrien at the door of the sports centre. She was here at her usual time, which was way before Adrien usually did. From the way he was smiling and the unusual time of his arrival, Kagami could tell something had happened last night when he was with Marinette. Speaking of the blue-haired girl, Kagami hadn’t seen her this morning. Was she early or not coming at all?

“Guess who Marinette has a crush on?” Adrien wrapped an arm around Kagami’s shoulders, guiding her into the building and passed the empty reception desk. He must have used his key to get in like she did every morning.

“I can’t believe you’re still trying to set me up. If it was meant to happen, one of us would have made a move before now. We can’t even date because it would be unprofessional and I would probably be fired.”

Adrien raised an eyebrow at his friend, marvelling at the similarities her and Marinette shared. Both of them were incredibly confident in the things they were good at, but both ridiculously bad with romance. And that was really something when it was coming from him, Adrien Agreste, one of the most oblivious people he knew, possibly in the entirety of Paris. “You just need a little push. Also, I made a bet with Marinette that I don’t want to lose.”

Raising an eyebrow, Kagami wondered what the bet was. Surely, Adrien wouldn’t have made a bet on whether she and Marinette would get together, knowing full well that neither of them were making any moves without coercion. Adrien really wasn’t that much like Kim right, even though they did work together. “Since when did you start making bets? I didn’t know Kim was giving you life advice now.”

“I said I would dive into the Seine if you didn’t like Marinette back the same way. I really don’t want to jump into the Seine, I’ve heard its always cold, regardless of the season.” Suddenly, an idea sprung into Adrien’s mind. If he organised a date between them, neither would actually back out in fear of ruining their chances. “You know what, I’m going to set you both up on a date.”

Kagami’s eyes snapped open wider and she grabbed Adrien by the arm, dragging him into the closest store cupboard. If anyone around them heard what Adrien said, they could report her to D’argencourt and she could be in deep trouble.

“Marinette did the same thing yesterday, too. You really are two halves of the same person, huh? I know a lot of couples have cute traditions but dragging Adrien Agreste shouldn’t be one of them.” Adrien grinned as he watched Kagami turn bright red. “Anyway, when are you free for your date with Marinette?”

“I’m not going on a date with Marinette while I’m still teaching her fencing lessons. That’s just asking for trouble!” Despite how much she would want to date Marinette, she had to be professional. As long as Marinette was taking lessons here, they couldn’t have a romantic relationship.

“You keep using that as an excuse, but we both know that you have the same feelings for each other and there’s a way around every problem you bring up. Everyone wants you to be happy, Kagami, and we all want Marinette to be happy too. We’re all going to support you no matter what, you just need to take the first step.” Adrien hugged Kagami, knowing she was both stubborn and self conscious at the same time.

“I hope you don’t lose your bet, Adrien.” Kagami pulled away, not wanting to drag the conversation out any longer. Besides, she had to train. Just because she had a crush didn’t mean she could slack off from her training.

As she slipped back out of the cupboard, Kagami glanced at the TV screen sitting above Addy’s desk. Someone else must be here for the screen to be on, which meant she was running late. Just as she was about to leave the reception, the news began a rerun of the news from last night. This was a normal event, but what made Kagami pause was the footage of Marinette leaving the sports centre. The newsreader was speaking about some of the theories spawned by Marinette’s activities, including one that seemed convinced she was only in there to see Adrien. Kagami rolled her eyes, they were even worse about following Marinette around than they were when she was competing.

Seeing Marinette leaving the sports centre looking like she was on top of the world gave Kagami a little hope. Maybe everything would work out exactly as they wanted and she could see Marinette look that happy every day.

Hours passed, tugging lessons by with them. The day ended and Kagami found herself wondering what Marinette was doing. Maybe it was time to actually pay her shop a visit. Changing back into her normal clothes and dropping her bag off in her car, Kagami rolled her shoulders and walked towards the front door of Marinette’s boutique.

Gently pushing the door open, Kagami looked around, taking in the room. The soft chimes of the bell were quickly lost in the music playing, some of Clara Nightingale’s new music. The entire store smelled like freshly baked cookies and vanilla, almost exactly the same as the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

Kagami only made it a few steps inside before Juleka appeared in front of her. “It’s so good to see you again! Are you looking for Marinette?”

Of course, everyone knew about their awkward crushes on each other. There had been a few times when Kagami and Marinette had been at the same events or locations, mostly because of shared friends, but they hadn’t really interacted much. Now Kagami was wishing she spent more time interacting with Marinette because it would have made the situation they were in so much easier to handle. If they could have conversations with each other without going bright red, Kagami could just ask Marinette on a date. Maybe not that directly, but a movie with a few friends was a good place to start, right?

“Is Marinette here? I wanted to give her something.” This hadn’t been in the original plan, there hadn’t even been an original plan to begin with. Coming to Marinette’s boutique had been an impulsive decision.

“I think Marinette left a few minutes ago, but I can show you where her office is. She should be back soon if you want to wait for her.”

At Juleka’s suggestion, Kagami felt her eyes bug out of her head slightly. Actually having a physical conversation with Marinette wasn’t a good idea, especially after having her thoughts muddled all day. Marinette probably didn’t even want to see her, considering she came to work so early. “No thanks, I’ll leave a message for her.”

Juleka nodded. “Come with me, her office is upstairs.”

Kagami followed Juleka up the stairs. When they reached Marinette’s office, Kagami looked around for a few seconds, taking in the magazine spreads pinned to the walls and the awards framed above Marinette’s desk. Other designs were around the room, but the whole office still seemed cozy and inviting. Huge windows looked down onto the sports centre entrance, making Kagami realise that Marinette could see her opening windows before she began training. A thought flickered through her mind. Next time she arrived early to train she was going to wave at Marinette, just to see her reaction.

While Kagami was looking out the window, Juleka had slipped away. She had to keep Marinette out of her office, just long enough for Kagami to do something. With a bit of luck, they would run into each other and stop being so awkward all the time. Everyone could see they liked each other, they just needed to admit it!

Once Juleka was gone, Kagami realised she really didn’t have any reason to be in here. She didn’t have to speak to Marinette about anything, and they had another fencing lesson tomorrow afternoon. 

Unless she left some kind of note. Something that actually made her time here worthwhile, and more useful than just staring at an office and looking out some windows. There was paper on Marinette’s desk, and countless pencil holders filled with every kind and colour of writing implement imaginable. Any of them would work.

Grabbing a strip of paper and a red pen, Kagami scribbled her name and her phone number, signing the note with a small heart. That wasn’t too forward, right? Red hearts could mean anything, and red was kind of her signature colour. It was fine, there was nothing wrong. The important part was that Marinette had her phone number, not what else was on the page.

It was time to leave, before she was caught. Kagami rushed down the stairs and back out of the shop, waving goodbye to Juleka as she passed.

Realisation only began to sink in when she was a good distance away from the boutique. Panicking momentarily, Kagami reminded herself that friends give each other their numbers all the time, and if something went wrong that was all it was. Friends.


	9. Sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

Kagami began to celebrate the second her door was closed. Marinette had her phone number, and all Kagami had to do now was wait. What she was waiting for varied greatly. Either Marinette could call or text her, or she could hand back the piece of paper tomorrow and tell Kagami that it was unprofessional to have each other’s numbers. That wasn’t even the worst scenario Kagami’s mind could conjure up. Despite all the assurances from countless people around her, there was a tiny fragment of a thought tucked away in her mind that told her Marinette didn’t like her in the same way and that she should give up. That was a thought she was desperately trying to ignore.

Time passed quickly and Kagami did everything on autopilot. Her nightly routine was so deeply ingrained from being performed countless times that it was simply muscle memory. Everything blurred by until she was lying in bed, trying to sleep. Except she couldn’t. 

Sleep was evading her like she had been avoiding her feelings lately. Maybe this was karma for being so slow to admit to her feelings, if karma was this petty. 

Deciding there was no use to being in bed if her mind was working a million miles an hour, Kagami pushed her blankets away and wandered out of her room. After walking around mindlessly for a while, Kagami realised she was standing in front of her calendar. One thing stood out to her; the red fencing foil doodled in the corner of tomorrow’s date.

Her heart jumped into her throat. Tomorrow would be the first time she could talk to Marinette face to face after leaving her phone number in Marinette’s office. While she enjoyed Marinette’s company and looked forward to their lessons together, the worry that Marinette thought they were just acquaintances was growing. 

The clock on the side table behind her chimed, reminding her that it was still late at night. Kagami sighed. There was nothing she could do now; she would just have to wait until she saw Marinette tomorrow to gauge her reaction. 

Returning to her room, Kagami walked past her phone, not bothering to check it. She wasn’t expecting any messages, which meant she also didn’t see the one from Marinette.

Which left Marinette thinking about her message all night. 

Usually, she looked forward to their fencing lessons. But now the only thing she could associate with fencing with her text to Kagami, and all the consequences spiralling out from it. She couldn’t stop reading the few words over and over again, analysing every little thing about the message. Was it too informal? Kagami didn’t really seem like the type of person to have a casual conversation with someone she didn’t really know too well. That might be an issue. 

Everything passed like a blur until her alarm began to chime. Marinette groaned, rolling over and dropping her hand on the alarm. She didn’t even know if she had slept, she couldn’t tell. Her mind seemed to be in the exact same state as it had been when she first went to bed last night. The hours between then and now felt like they had both dragged on forever and vanished into thin air. It was confusing.

The second Marinette’s feet touched the floor, she felt dizzy. Her stomach was churning and there was a high-pitched ringing coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. Marinette let herself fall back against her bed and threw an arm across her eyes. The room was too bright and too loud. She was definitely sick, and she knew there was only a slim chance of making it to her fencing lesson that night. Nothing short of a miracle would be required to recover from this that quickly. 

Her phone was cold in her hand as she called Rose. When Rose answered, Marinette had to hold the phone away from her ear because the cheeriness in Rose’s voice was hurting her head. “Hi, Marinette! How are you?”

“I don’t think I’ll be at work today; I’ve caught something and I’m sick. Do you mind telling Juleka and Mylene?” Marinette’s throat was starting to feel like she was swallowing rocks, but she continued. “We were supposed to have a fitting today.”

“Okay, I’ll let them know. Get better soon! Bye!” 

“Bye, Rose.” Marinette ended the call and dropped her phone back onto the nightstand next to her. The only things she had scheduled for today was the fitting for her next line, and the fencing lesson with Kagami. She knew she would have to cancel the lesson as well, but a small part of Marinette was hoping that she would be better in time. 

Laying back on the bed, Marinette pulled the sheets up around her and tried to go back to sleep. The last time she was this sick, Sabine had burst in with a thermometer and most of the blankets in the house, even without Marinette saying she was sick. She smiled at the memory before drifting to sleep.

Kagami paced the locker room, staring at her phone. She had been here since normal time, thinking. Marinette’s text stared back at her, taunting her with the fact that she couldn’t think of anything to say back that didn’t sound forced, even to herself. On top of that, she was the only one at work, so she couldn’t ask Adrien for help. 

Dropping her phone back into her bag, Kagami grabbed her equipment and headed for her favourite training room. Some fencing would clear her head, especially with time ticking down until Marinette would arrive for their next fencing lesson. If Kagami hadn’t replied to the text by then, she could just speak to Marinette in person, right?

An hour later Kagami was walking back to the locker room, her mind clear. One little text message wouldn’t be a problem for her, she was Kagami Tsurugi, best fencer in the world, hopeless idiot in love. Nothing could get in her way.

When her equipment was back in the correct place, Kagami turned to her bag. It was time to text Marinette. As Kagami opened her messages, she realised there was another message from Marinette. Her heart leapt in her chest, until she read the message. The message itself lacked most of its punctuation but was mostly coherent. ‘Sorry I can’t make it later to the fencing lesson I got sick and can’t get out of bed bye Kagami from Marinette’.

Adrien sauntered into the room, dropping his helmet on the bench. “Morning, Kagami. How’s Marinette?”

“She’s sick so she’ll be missing our lesson.” Kagami didn’t even look up from her phone, instead typing out a simple ‘get well soon’ message.

That stopped Adrien dead in his tracks. He hadn’t expected Kagami to answer. In fact, he had been waiting for her to turn bright red and deny her feelings for Marinette yet again. But it hadn’t happened. “When you did get her number?”

The topic of the conversation finally dawned on Kagami and she blushed, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter, don’t worry about it.” 

“At least tell me you’re getting closer to asking her out. You both like each other, and you have her phone number! Just text her and ask if she’s free in a week or so to do something outside of fencing lessons.” Adrien walked over to Kagami, trying to peek over her shoulder. He wasn’t quick enough, though, and Kagami managed to hide the screen before he could see anything. 

“It isn’t that easy, Adrien. We already have fencing lessons, and D’Argencourt would flip if he found out about it.” Kagami sent the message and dropped her phone back into her bag. She grabbed her equipment again and walked past Adrien. “I have another lesson, don’t get into too much trouble. And don’t disturb Marinette, she’s sick.”

The door swung shut behind her, leaving Adrien standing in the middle of the room, grinning. It was only a matter of time until one of them finally made a move, just as he had predicted.


	10. Discovered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter where everything makes a turn for the worst.

It took three days for Marinette to be back at work. In that time, she had cancelled another lesson, but was sure she would be fine for tomorrow. She had already missed two lessons, and she missed them. She missed seeing Kagami, even if most of their interactions ended in Marinette pining hopelessly for hours after.

There were only a few hours left until Marinette’s lesson, and she was practically buzzing with excitement. She was still slightly tired from being sick, but the anticipation for her lesson far outweighed any negative feelings. 

Once she arrived at work, Marinette couldn’t stop watching the clock. There was plenty of work to be done to make up for the days she missed, as well as the rapidly approaching deadline for the new line, but the ticking of the clock had never been more distracting. 

Luckily, she managed to file the stacks of paperwork on her desk, reply to most of her emails, and put together some inspiration for the new line, but that was as far as she got. Soon, everyone was leaving and there was only ten minutes until her lesson began. Marinette gathered everything she had bought to work and pushed it into her bag, hurrying down the stairs to lock up. 

The weather was clear, and everything seemed to be looking up for Marinette. She dropped her bag into the back of her car and grabbed the other bag that held her uniform, slinging it over her shoulder. As she walked towards the sports centre, she passed a few people heading in the opposite direction, nodding her head in acknowledgment. In no time at all, she was inside the sports centre, waving to Addy as she passed. “Kagami is in your usual training room, it’s good to see you again.”

“Thank you!” Marinette pushed through the doors and walked into the large training room. She inhaled deeply through her nose, taking in all the little details she had missed so much in the past few days. When she opened her eyes again, Marinette saw Kagami standing next to the helmet rack, smiling at her. 

“Welcome back, Marinette. I hope you feel better.” Kagami picked her helmet up from the floor and began to adjust it. “We’ll start in a few minutes, after you get changed.” 

Marinette nodded and headed over to the familiar bathroom. She pulled her uniform on quickly, pulling her hair back into a low bun. As she walked back into the main room, Marinette tried to recall everything she had been taught so far. It had only been a few days, but whatever bug she had caught made her memory foggy at best. Maybe she should ask for a quick recap…

“Are you ready to begin?” Kagami handed Marinette a helmet and foil, picking her own equipment up again. “If you want to go over anything again, we can.”

“A quick refresher would help a lot, thank you.” Relief washed over Marinette. She didn’t know how she was going to bring that up, but Kagami seemed to be more intuitive than she first thought.

Both of them began to stretch before pulling their helmets on and getting ready to train. Slowly, their movements became quicker and quicker, and everything started to come back to Marinette. The fog surrounding her memories was lifting, dissipating faster the more she exercised. And the exhilarating feeling of fencing came back to her, making her even happier that she wasn’t sick anymore.

Unfortunately, that didn’t last long. Only ten minutes into their training session, Marinette’s limbs began to feel heavy and the mental fog started to return. Marinette pushed through it, not wanting to admit she wasn’t feeling the best. In her mind, she was still alright enough to continue.

And she did continue, for another half hour. By then, her arms felt like lead and she could barely hold her foil in the air. Her legs felt like they were chained to the floor and her head was spinning like a top. Only now did she realise that maybe she wasn’t as healthy as she thought she was. Everything was going downhill very quickly. “I need… a break.”

Just as she managed to wheeze out that sentence, Marinette felt her legs buckle underneath her. As she fell, she managed to pull her mask off. The cool air of the room hit her face, but she was still falling. Kagami dropped her foil and leapt forward, catching Marinette before she could hit the ground. “Marinette! Are you okay?”

“I just overexerted myself, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll be fine with a good night’s sleep.” Marinette placed her mask on the ground next to the foil she had dropped when she fell without even noticing. “Give me a couple of minutes to get a drink and I’ll be back on my feet.”

“If you’re not able to continue fencing without injuring yourself or making yourself sick, I have to end the lesson. D’Argencourt is quite strict about that policy.” Kagami let go of Marinette and removed her helmet as well. She stood up and took a few steps back, realising how close she had been to Marinette. Her face turned red and her brain stopped functioning for a few moments.

Suddenly, the doors flew open to reveal D’Argencourt, absolutely fuming. “Miss Tsurugi, Miss Dupain-Cheng, would you like to explain this?”

Kagami’s face dropped. She realised D’Argencourt didn’t know about her and Adrien’s class switch. He had been against it from the very beginning, how would Adrien have been able to change his mind? This was the worst possible thing to happen, and Kagami knew that serious consequences would follow. “I’m sorry, I’m covering for Adrien’s class.”

D’Argencourt scowled, becoming angrier with every word Kagami said. “You were specifically told you were not teaching this lesson, and yet you went behind my back! This kind of insubordination will not be tolerated!”

Marinette decided she couldn’t sit by idly and watch this unfolding. “Monsieur D’Argencourt, I requested Kagami personally. This isn’t her fault.”

“As far as I am concerned, you are both at fault here. Miss Dupain-Cheng, consider yourself banned from this establishment. You have ten minutes to remove yourself from the premises before I call security.” After speaking to Marinette, he turned to Kagami. “Miss Tsurugi, I will not accept you going behind my back to arrange things like this. You have half an hour to remove yourself and all your personal items from the premises before security removes you, too. You’re fired.”

Kagami and Marinette gasped. Kagami could feel tears coming to her eyes. She was usually more in control of her emotions, but this was one of the situations she had been dreading. Her lack of control over her feelings for Marinette had ruined another part of her life, and something she had worked on for a long time. Fencing was a huge part of her life, and now she didn’t have a place to work. Kagami adored her job and couldn’t even begin to imagine what her life would look like without it. Her mother would be angry at her, too. 

“Yes, Monsieur D’Argencourt.” Kagami bowed slightly and picked her equipment up. Even if she had just lost her job, she still had her dignity, and that meant she wouldn’t let anyone see her cry. “Thank you for the job opportunity, I’m sorry this happened.”

All Marinette could do as watch as Kagami rushed out of the room. When she looked up at D’Argencourt, he simply pointed to the clock. “Time is running out, and I’m sure your reputation would be considerably damaged if you were to be thrown out of the sports centre next to your boutique.”

There was no arguing against this, and Marinette knew it. D’Argencourt had clearly made his mind up and Kagami had accepted everything. Marinette grabbed her bag and hurried towards the door. She could get changed back into her normal clothes in her boutique, she just had to leave. Just as she reached the door, she turned and stared D’Argencourt directly in the eyes. “I apologise for the trouble, but this isn’t Kagami’s fault. She should be able to keep her job.”

“Get out of my sports centre.”

Kagami stood in front of her locker, pulling things into her bag carelessly. Time was ticking down, and she didn’t want to be escorted out by security. There wouldn’t even be time for her to explain the situation to her friends unless she ran into them on the way out. A quick glance at the lock revealed that it was likely that would happen, since it was getting closer to closing. 

Alix was the first to enter the locker room. Her skates were hanging from her fingers, and she was bright red in the face. When she saw Kagami, Alix dropped her skates on the middle bench and walked over. “What’s wrong? Did something happen with Marinette?”

“I got fired.” Those three words finally cracked through the wall Kagami had been keeping up. Everything that had happened in the last twenty minutes was finally sinking in, and tears began to rush down her face. Sobs began to wrack her body as Alix engulfed her in a hug. “Marinette is going to hate me because she’s banned from coming back, too. I ruined her chances of learning fencing because I was selfish.”

Alix didn’t really know how to comfort Kagami since she had never seen this side of her friend. However, she did know Marinette, and that might help. “I have a feeling she wasn’t here for the fencing lessons. Sure, she might have enjoyed them, but I would bet money on the fact that she signed up because she had a chance of being taught by you.”

“Really? Marinette doesn’t seem like the type of person that would do something like that for a crush.”

“She definitely is. You should have seen all the things she did for her crush in high school. She even let him think his father got him the gift she handmade.” The girls separated and Alix grinned at Kagami. “Marinette has a tendency to get blinded by love and see no wrong in the person, I don’t think she could ever be mad at you, even if she was here just for fencing.”

“Thank you, Alix. You’re really good at giving advice.” Kagami wiped the tears from her eyes and continued packing everything away. “Can you tell the others what happened? I’m supposed to be gone soon, and I really don’t want to be thrown out by security.”

“I will. See you around, Kagami.”

“See you around, Alix.” With everything packed into a few bags, Kagami jogged down the stairs and back onto the street. She started walking down the path and her mind went into autopilot, carrying her away with her thoughts. The next thing she knew, she was standing outside her apartment, key in hand. 

She unlocked the door and walked inside, dropping everything on the ground around the corner. Her fencing equipment probably wouldn’t be used for a while, something she hadn’t quite come to terms with yet. Kagami turned and closed the door again, twisting the lock. Shutting out everything that had happened recently. 

It was time for a new chapter in her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was hard to write because my spellcheck was having issues with 'D'Argencourt' and I actually had to capitalise the letters myself. Luckily, he's not going to show up much after the next chapter. 
> 
> Twitter: halcyon_writes  
Tumblr: halcyyonn


	11. Aftermath

It had been nearly a month. Marinette hadn’t heard from Kagami at all in that time. She hadn’t reached out, either. In fact, she had just been moping around her apartment and the boutique for most of that time.

Her friends were worrying more and more each day. From the conversations between them and Marinette’s friends at the sports centre, they had pieced together what had happened and had deduced that Marinette was acting this way because of a broken heart.

But it had been too long, and Marinette’s deadlines had already passed. If Marinette continued to wallow in sadness for any longer, everything would be pushed back, until there were only a few days to pull everything together. It would be almost impossible.

They needed Marinette back to normal to keep the ship running normally.

“Does anyone have Kagami’s phone number?” Juleka turned slightly in her chair, reaching for her phone. “I’m sure Kagami would understand that Marinette is sorry, right? She seems reasonable enough.”

Rose shook her head, having already checked through her contacts that morning. “Adrien would have her number, just like everyone at the sports centre.”

In unison, they all looked at the clock. There were nearly two hours until Adrien took his lunch break, but that was too long. If anyone wanted to find Kagami and help Marinette, they needed to move quickly. Time was of the essence.

“I’ll call Adrien.” Grabbing her phone, Mylene stood up and walked into one of the side rooms. She, like Juleka and Rose, was determined to help her friend be happy again, and the happiest Marinette had been was when she was with Kagami. The solution was obvious.

Leaning heavily on her elbows, Marinette flicked through the sketchbook, the pages suddenly rough underneath her fingers. As the pages turned, she let her eyes wander over each sketch of Kagami, each pose and each splatter of colour. She really missed her.

It was part of her new ‘routine’. Wake up, regret signing up for fencing lessons solely because of a crush, go to work, wish things had happened differently, go home, miss Kagami. Every day. And for the first time in almost two months, she was drawing again, all the time. Except everything she drew was sad, people drowning in their own tears and falling apart from the inside out. Stuff that wouldn’t make a good clothing line.

There was one last spot on the last page of the sketchbook, saved for something special, and Marinette lifted a pen from the desk. She had to move on. She had been telling herself that for weeks, and yet she still hadn’t. But now, she was serious.

‘Dear Kagami,

‘I love you, I have since for a long time. But I went about my feelings in the worst way possible. I hurt you, and I don’t think I can ever apologise enough. Because of my actions, because of me, you lost your job and your life is probably in chaos right now.

‘I can understand if you never want to speak to me again, which is why I’m writing a letter here instead of one you could actually read.

‘Sorry. I’m sorry. I apologise with all my heart. I hope you can forgive me for everything. Even if you don’t, I’ll still love you.

‘Love, Marinette.’

There was so much more to say, but no more room. The sketchbook was filled, completely and utterly. Maybe it was time to get rid of it. Marinette considered it briefly, hoping that it would sever her feelings for Kagami, but she knew it wouldn’t.

Marinette felt tears well up in her eyes, but she wiped them away roughly. She had cried enough already, and she had other things to do. People were relying on her. She had a company to run. Feeling sorry for herself wouldn’t get her anywhere.

Adrien stepped into the locker room just as his phone began to ring. He almost vaulted over a bench to get to it, hoping it was Kagami. He had called her countless times over the last month, trying to reach her. It went to voicemail every time. Kagami wasn’t answering her phone.

It was Mylene, her contact picture smiling up at Adrien from his phone. Adrien answered the call, lifting the phone to his ear. “Hey, Mylene.”

“Do you have Kagami’s phone number? Marinette is distraught.” Mylene’s words spilled through the phone, covering Adrien like a tsunami. “I’m sorry, that was rude. Hello, Adrien.”

“Kagami hadn’t been answering her phone. I’ve been calling her and calling her, yet she never picks up. I was going to head over to her apartment this afternoon, just to check on her. I’m sure she’s fine, but she usually doesn’t ignore her phone this long.”

On the other end of the phone, Mylene’s heart dropped. If Kagami wasn’t answering any of Adrien’s calls, what chance did any of them? “Can you visit her at lunch? That way we can convince Marinette to see her after work if she’s there.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Adrien glanced at the clock on the wall. He had one more class, then his lunch break. If he was fast enough, he could make it to Kagami’s apartment and back in time, but it would be tight. Nevertheless, he would do it, because it was partially his fault that they were in this situation in the first place. “I’ll call you after I visit her.”

“Thank you so much, Adrien. Have a good day.”

“Bye, Mylene.”

A ‘click’ let Adrien know the call had ended. He placed his phone back in his bag and grabbed his water bottle instead, draining half of it. Mylene’s call worried him. Marinette wasn’t doing well, and Kagami wasn’t answering his calls. This was worse than he had expected, and the sooner he got his friends back together, the sooner everything could go back to the way it should be.

Kagami stared down at the new phone in her hand. It was the replacement for her old one, given to her by her mother along with the one-way plane tickets to Japan. As a punishment for being fired, Kagami had been sent back to Japan to live with her family, possibly indefinitely.

Her family was lovely, but Kagami often found herself thinking of ways to get back to Paris without her mother knowing. She missed Marinette but couldn’t remember her phone number and didn’t want to ask Adrien for it in case Marinette was mad at her. Even though Alix had assured her Marinette wouldn’t be, Kagami’s mind kept telling her that a month without any communication would be catastrophic to any relationship.

And like an idiot, she had listened.

But it was time for that to change. If she had to, she would apologise to Marinette a million times. She just wanted to hear her voice again, see her again. Kagami knew her feelings hadn’t diminished at all, even though they probably should have. She wasn’t mad at Marinette over anything, not even over losing her job.

Without putting any more thought into it, Kagami dialled Adrien’s number. She knew it would be early in Paris, but that didn’t stop her. She hit the call button and pressed the phone to her ear. A wave of anxiety washed over her, a pit forming in her stomach. What if Adrien was mad at her, too?

“Hello? Who is this?” Adrien picked up, but he sounded tired, like Kagami had woken him up. She probably had. “Have you seen the time?”

“I’m sorry for waking you, Adrien, but I didn’t know who else to call.”

“Kagami, what’s wrong? Where are you? You haven’t been answering your phone, everyone is worried.” Suddenly, Adrien sounded much more alert, the early hour of the morning quickly forgotten.

“I’m in Japan. Mother sent me to stay with family as a punishment for being fired, and I haven’t been answering my phone because she replaced my old one and I have a different number. I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier, but I was worried everyone would be mad at me.”

“No one is mad at you, we just wanted to make sure you were safe. Everyone misses you, especially Marinette. Do you know when you’re coming home?”

Home. The word sent a burst of warmth through Kagami’s chest. For such a long time she had thought home was where she lived and where she worked but being apart from everyone she cared about for so long had changed her mind. Home was the people she worked with, her friends, and Marinette.

“Is she mad at me?”

“Who?”

“Marinette. I don’t want her to hate me.” Kagami paused. “I don’t think I could handle it.”

“No, she doesn’t hate you. She misses you. She’s distraught, and she thinks you’re mad at her. You just need to call her and explain everything, she’ll understand. I promise.” As Adrien spoke, he thought about everything that had happened in the last month.

“I don’t have her number with me. Can you send it to me so I can talk to her?” As she spoke, Kagami opened and closed her hands a few times. Was she going too far? Then she realised that even if Marinette wanted to speak to her, the phone number she had wasn’t the right one anymore. Marinette didn’t have a way to contact her, and it would look like Kagami was ignoring her. A bolt of panic lanced through her heart, but Kagami forced herself to breathe through it.

No negative thoughts, she would make sure everything was fine again.

“Sure. I’ll text it to you. Oh, and a word of advice, Kagami.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t text her at two in the morning.”

Kagami grinned. Everything was starting to take another turn, but this time for the better. “I won’t.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Adrien.” Kagami ended the call and waited. It only took a few seconds for her phone to buzz again, announcing the arrival of Adrien’s text. It was a contact, with Marinette’s name and a string of numbers. Her only link to Marinette.

In a few hours, she would be able to text Marinette, but for now, she had to keep herself busy. Occupy her mind with thoughts other than Marinette, which was easier said than done.

Oh well, at least she could talk to Marinette at all.


	12. Denouement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything gets better.

Marinette almost ignored the call. Not only was it from an unknown number, but it came just a little too early in the morning to be someone she knew. 

However, something deep in her subconscious told her to answer the phone. 

“Hello?”

“Hello, Marinette.” Kagami’s voice was quiet, but Marinette recognised it instantly. 

Her heart began to beat wildly in her chest. For the first time since the incident at the sports centre, Kagami was actually speaking to her. Did this mean she wasn’t mad at Marinette for what had happened? Marinette’s voice wavered slightly, but she tried to hide it. “Kagami? Is that really you?”

“It is. I’ve missed you.” Kagami pressed the phone closer to her ear, waiting impatiently for Marinette to reply. Marinette hadn’t really said anything that could be interpreted as positive or negative, and Kagami was beginning to worry if Marinette was mad at her for leaving Paris.

“Where have you been? I tried to call you, but you never answered.” As Marinette spoke, Kagami felt her heart drop. Marinette really had tried to reach out to her, but everything had gotten in the way. If only her mother hadn’t sent her to Japan. If only Kagami hadn’t let her find out that she had lost her job. But Tomoe would have found out anyway, hiding it was pointless. 

Kagami relaxed, allowing herself to slouch more in her chair. Everything was going to be fine. “My mother sent me to Japan because I was fired. I’m staying with some family right now, just doing more fencing training and not much else. You’re the second person from Paris I’ve spoken to since I left. It’s nice to hear your voice again.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Mad about what?” Kagami sat up quickly, her spine straightening quickly as she threw herself upright. “I could never be mad at you, Marinette, about anything.”

On the other side of the phone, Marinette let out a small sigh of relief. That eased her worries slightly, but she still worried Kagami was just saying that to ease her nerves. Surely, even Kagami couldn’t be so calm after nearly everything in her life had been turned upside down, especially since it was Marinette’s fault. “Really? Because of me, you lost your job, got sent to Japan and can’t see your friends! I would be mad if I was in your position.”

“But you’re not in my position, and I’m not mad at you. In fact, I’m surprised you’re not mad at me. After denying my feelings for you for so long, I wait forever to actually act on them, go about them in the wrong way and then disappear out of the country for a month without telling anyone. You should be mad at me, not me at you.”

“Kagami, I would never be mad at you. Things spiralled out of control and D’Argencourt appeared at the wrong time. I wish I could have done something to save your job, but I couldn’t do anything. Now we just have to find a way to get you back to Paris and home with everyone.” Marinette moved to her desk and grabbed a pen. She started drawing mindless circles, focusing on trying to picture Kagami. All she could think about was the last time they saw each other in the sports centre, just after D’Argencourt found them.

Her words gave Kagami pause. When she had been sent to Japan, she only had a one-way ticket. Tomoe hadn’t given her a date when she could return, and none of her family knew either. But could she tell Marinette that?

One side of her, the logical side, told her that Marinette deserved to know, especially after her recent disappearing act. But the other side, the stronger emotional side, told her that Marinette would cut contact if she didn’t know when she was returning, but offered no other explanation. Unfortunately, that side won out and Kagami stayed silent, only offering a single, small ‘yeah’.

“I have to get ready for work soon.” As much as she didn’t want to end the call, Marinette knew they both had things to do. She could feel her motivation waking back up, and she knew Kagami's family would probably want her to continue her fencing training. 

“My family will probably be looking for me. It was nice hearing your voice, Marinette. I can’t wait until I can back in Paris with everyone.” Kagami paused again, not knowing whether she should continue. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too. Come home soon.”

“I will, I promise.”

After a moment of pause, Marinette ended the call. She was alone in her apartment again with only her beating heart for company. Out of all the things that could have happened, this was the one Marinette least expected. For nearly a week, she had been considering the possibility that she would never hear from Kagami again, and with each passing day that seemed more and more likely. 

But now, Kagami was coming home. Marinette was still reeling with the news, and giddy excitement had started to take over her thoughts. She was going to see Kagami again! If Kagami was coming home, then they could have another chance together and maybe this time it would work out better. For both of them.

Everything had been a whirlwind since she met Kagami, but despite everything, Marinette didn’t regret any of it. Somehow. 

In fact, the sudden changes and twisting emotions had flooded her mind with ideas. If nothing else, this whole experience had begun to push Marinette towards taking more risks, and maybe it was time for a Marinette Dupain-Cheng designed sports line.

[C]|||

Colour began to splash across the pages of Marinette’s new sketchbook as she completed design idea after idea. It had been a few days since she first called Kagami and since then she had barely slept, spending hours and hours drawing. 

There were so many possibilities for sections of the clothing line, everything from specialised fencing gear to swimwear to running gear. The sky was the limit, but Marinette knew she didn’t have a lot of time to work with. She had already missed deadlines, and now she had to make up for that by working faster than usual.

However, in the end, she knew it would all be worth it. Maybe after Kagami got home Marinette could convince her to model in the show. After all, it would make sense for the inspiration of the line to make an appearance at least once. 

Marinette placed the sketchbook aside to let it dry while she thought about Kagami again. That was another thing that had returned, the lovestruck thoughts about Kagami. Between phone calls, Marinette found herself imaging how the situation would play out when Kagami finally got back to Paris. Would it be awkward between them, or would everything finally fall into place for them, for real this time?

On the other side of the room, Marinette’s phone began to ring. In seconds, she was out of her chair and standing in front of it. With any luck, it would be Kagami.

Adrien's face stared back at Marinette from inside her phone, a dodgy photo that was taken years ago at a theme park. While she couldn’t say she wasn’t slightly disappointed it wasn’t Kagami on the other end of the line, Marinette was just as happy to talk to Adrien.

Thankfully, their friendship was still strong, even after Adrien had admitted that he was largely responsible for the unofficial timetable swap that had gotten Kagami fired. Marinette had also made sure he had talked everything over with Kagami because there was no way Marinette would be able to choose between them if it came to it.

“Hey, Adrien.” Marinette leant her shoulder against the wall, relaxing slightly. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything is great, I just wanted to check if Kagami had told you the good news.” There was a slight amount of noise on Adrien's end of the phone call, and Marinette’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. 

“No? Should she have told me something?”

Adrien paused. The silence stretched for another couple of moments as gears seemed to whir in Adrien's head. He had realised his mistake very suddenly. “No! I mean, nothing, I don’t know what she’s told you, ignore me, I’ve probably gotten everything mixed up. Have a nice afternoon, Marinette!”

The phone call ended abruptly and Marinette was left with even fewer answers than she had five minutes ago. Maybe the best way to find out would be to call Kagami and ask her directly.

Her fingers flew over the keypad on her phone’s screen. By now, Marinette had memorised Kagami's number and could type it faster than finding Kagami's contact. The phone began to ring and Marinette placed the phone back up to her ear. 

Kagami picked up within seconds. She sounded slightly breathless, like she had come straight from training, or run a long distance to get to her phone quickly. “Marinette, hi.”

At her voice, Marinette could feel her knees weaken and her insides melt into mush. No matter how much she had talked to Kagami, she still wasn’t used to hearing her voice speak so softly to her. “Hi, Kagami.”

“What’s up?”

“I just got a weird call from Adrien, and I thought you might know what it was about.”

“You can ask me anything, Marinette.”

“Okay. Is there good news Adrien would know that I don’t?”

“Well…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter left!


	13. I Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything will turn out well in the end.

Marinette rushed around backstage, making sure everything was prepared for her newest show. Everything had come together well, but there was always something that could go wrong. From the models to the costumes themselves, Marinette knew her industry could be unpredictable. Nearly everything she had been working on for the past months came down to this, and there was no room for error. 

“Is everyone here and ready to walk?” Models were beginning to line up in their order, checking each other over for any last-minute adjustments that needed to be made. The excitement was buzzing through the air, as well as a few twinges of nervousness.

A chorus of ‘yes’ rang out and Marinette’s nerves alleviated slightly. She reassured herself everything was going to be fine. It was nearly time for the show to start, which meant she had to check in on the one new ‘model’ appearing that day. 

“Have you seen-,” Marinette started to speak, but Juleka could already tell where the sentence was going.

“Dressing room two, she’s been pacing for a while but I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.”

“Thank you!” Marinette was weaving in and out of people as she walked towards the dressing room hallway. 

Marinette knocked on the door of the changing room Kagami was in. She could understand why Kagami was nervous because modelling in a fashion show was incredibly different from fencing at any level. The first time she had modelled anything, she was shaking for hours after from the pressure. Everyone told her she did well, but Marinette couldn’t remember any of it.

Hopefully Kagami wasn’t at that point yet, but then again, she was much calmer than Marinette. Years of fencing had to be paying off, right?

“Come in.”

The door was silent as it opened, revealing the dressing room hidden behind it. It still amazed Marinette how much the dressing rooms could change once they were filled with clothes and people, even after all of the shows she had created.

“Are you okay? Juleka said you had been pacing.” Even as Marinette spoke, Kagami was still moving from one side of the room to the other. It didn’t help that the room was only a few steps across.

“I don’t want to ruin your entire line because I freeze up on the catwalk. This line is already a huge risk and completely different to the other clothes you’ve designed, what happens if it fails spectacularly?”

Marinette stepped closer to Kagami and linked their fingers together. She watched as Kagami relaxed and let her shoulders loosen. They stood together for a moment, Marinette moving her thumb over Kagami’s knuckles. “If it fails, then I’ll make it some kind of limited-edition line and do something different next time. Everything will work out fine, even if a sports line isn’t the right thing for my brand.”

“Okay.” Kagami nodded. “I’m sure this will work out, even if it is on your name alone. You deserve every success in the world, Marinette.”

“You do too, Kagami.”

A knock on the door interrupted them, and Alix spoke from the other side. “Everyone is looking for you two, the show is about to start.”

“Coming!” Marinette turned and gently pulled Kagami with her. “I believe in you, and I have no problem putting my trust in you.”

Kagami smiled as she was pulled out the door. In a single conversation with Marinette, most of her nerves had dissipated. That seemed to be case whenever she was around Marinette. The fashion designer just seemed to have a calming effect on anyone, even in the toughest situations. 

When Marinette arrived back to the area behind the stage, the quiet hum of conversation faded away. Marinette grabbed the clipboard from a hook on the wall and looked it over once more, familiarising herself with the order and timing, even though she already knew it by heart. “The first group of models is the running group, in the order that you rehearsed. Does everyone remember it?”

The group of models in the branded running gear nodded and walked over to the side of the main curtain, just out of sight from the audience. Marinette continued to read the list of groups to the models in front of her and Kagami continued to watch Marinette in awe. How had she been so lucky for things to work out like this?

“Kagami, are you ready?” Marinette appeared in front of Kagami again, pulling her out of her daydreaming.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

The fashion show ended and Kagami was sitting back in the dressing room. She had already changed back into her normal clothes and was waiting for Marinette to show up. Last time Kagami had seen her, she had been speaking to investors that were almost fighting amongst themselves to get the chance to speak to the designer. By the amount of people wanting to get their hands on the new designs, Kagami had guessed the line was a massive success. 

Kagami couldn’t be prouder of Marinette.

Now, there was only one thing left that Kagami wanted to do. In the few short weeks since her return from Japan, there hadn’t been a chance to catch Marinette long enough to have a decent enough conversation.

Hopefully, everything would calm down now that the fashion show was finished. 

To the right of Kagami, the door opened, and Marinette stepped through. She looked slightly tired but overall elated. “It turned out amazingly!”

“Congratulations!” Kagami stood up and wrapped her arms around Marinette. Both of them pulled back a few seconds later, faces red and not able to meet the other’s eye. Even though Kagami thought being around Marinette calmed her, it was things like this that made her doubt that theory. “Can I speak to you about something?”

“About anything you wish.”

With a deep breath, Kagami began the speech she had written one night when she was thinking about Marinette. “We’ve known each other for a while, even if some of that time was when I was in Japan. And in that time, I’ve realised a few things that I should have really noticed earlier.”

“Is everything alright?” Marinette’s mind immediately jumped to the possibility of Kagami telling her that there was no chance of them ever getting together. 

“Everything is better than alright Marinette. I think I love you.”

The air was knocked out of Marinette’s lungs and she felt her jaw drop. When she spoke, her voice was high-pitched and squeaky. “Do you mind repeating that?”

“I love you, Marinette. I can’t imagine my life without you, and I don’t ever want to be apart from you for that long ever again.” Kagami stepped forward and linked her fingers with Marinette’s, similar to Marinette’s earlier action. “After everything that’s happened, I hope you still have the same feelings for me, if you ever had them in the first place. I understand if you don’t, but I just wanted to make sure you knew.”

Marinette grinned before throwing her arms around Kagami’s shoulders and pulling her back into another hug. “I can’t even begin to tell you how long I’ve wanted to hear those words. I love you, too, Kagami, more than the air I breathe or anything else in the world.”

The pair stood together, Marinette’s head on Kagami shoulder and Kagami’s hands wrapped tightly around Marinette’s back. Neither of them needed to speak for now, having already confessed their feelings and understanding the depth of them with only a few sentences. 

“Where do we go from here?” Kagami was the one to break the silence first. “I can’t say I’ve ever been in a situation like this, ever.”

“We can just take it one day at a time and work everything out for ourselves. I’m sure everything will work out, just like it’s worked out up to this point. All that matters is that I get to be with you.” Marinette’s words were completely true. She didn’t care what happened from here, as long as she could be with Kagami. 

“Then I suppose I should ask you to be my girlfriend, if we’re sticking together from now on.”

“I guess you should.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, will you do me the honour of becoming my girlfriend? I might not be the best at it, but I promise I’ll never stop trying to be better at it.”

“I can’t think of anything I want more right now than to be your girlfriend.”

“Is that a yes?”

“There’s no way it would be anything else.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the end! It's been a long time coming, but I'm really happy with how this turned out, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. It feels like I've been writing this forever, but it's been less than a year. I guess 2020 is just like that, huh?
> 
> Thank you for choosing to read this fic, thank you to everyone who left kudos, comments, and subscribed to the fic, I'm so appreciative of the support and had an awesome time working on this project.
> 
> See you all in the next fic,  
Halcyon_Writes


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